Fort Ticonderoga purchases Vermont-based lake cruise boat

TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (AP) — Fort Ticonderoga has purchased a Vermont-based Lake Champlain cruise boat and will offer tours as part of the historic site's ongoing efforts to develop its waterway recreation resources.

Officials with the not-for-profit organization that operates the privately owned heritage tourism destination in the southeastern Adirondacks say the ownership of the Carillon cruise boat will be finalized this spring, with waterway tours to begin during the 2015 season.

The Carillon is a 60-foot replica of a 1920s Thousand Islands cruise boat that was previously owned by Paul and Rene Saenger. Starting in 2006, the couple ran cruises out of Shoreham, Vermont, across the lake from Ticonderoga. Paul Saenger passed away last October.

Fort officials say a dock will be built for the boat on the property's two miles of shoreline on the lake's New York side.